I know The Bandits, They Are Fulani – Katsina Governor, Masari

By Gideon Njoku

Just in case anybody was in doubt about the identity of those who have reduced Nigeria to one of the World’s most dangerous nations to live in, Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, has wiped it out. And if you are one of those who insist that an ethnic group – Fulani – has wrongly been categorised as  majorly responsible for the tragic situation, perish the thought. You have the truth from the horse’s mouth.

Governor Masari has let the cat out of the bag. In his most candid interview so far, Masari said the Bandits are Fulani.

He spoke on Monday on a Channels Television interview programme, People and Politics.

Asked by his interviewer about the bandits, Masari said he knows them, and who they are. They are  Fulani, he submitted.

Masari: “They are the same people like me; who speak the same language like me, who profess the same religious beliefs like me.

“So what we know about these bandits, they are not aliens, they are people we know. They are people who have lived with us for hundreds of years.

“The infiltration we have from some West African countries and North African countries, are also people of Fulani extraction.

“Majority of those involved in this banditry are Fulanis, whether it is palatable or not, but that is the truth. I don’t say 100 per cent of them are, but majority of them are.

“And these are people who live in the forest and their main occupation is rearing of cattle.”

He said that climate change and lack of access to education whether Islamic or Western education aggravated the situation.

The Governor had, before now, met with a number of the bandits and tried to reach an agreement with them, but banditry has not abated in his state or neighbouring states. It has, instead, worsened, even after Governments, including the Katsina State Government, had spent hundreds of millions of Naira, either to “appease” them or to pay ransome.

President Muhammadu Buhari is Fulani. And so is Governor Masari. For the records, both are from Katsina State.